Some House of Representatives members have called for sanctions against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and six Area Council Chairmen for alleged insubordination and refusal to appear before its committee despite receiving invitations....READ FULL ARTICLE

A member of the House Committee on FCT Area Councils and Ancillary Matters, Ikonne Ifeanyi, made the demand during a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Ifeanyi stated that the failure of Wike and the Council Chairmen to appear before the committee after they were invited showed disrespect and a lack of regard for the House.

He noted that the House will no longer yield to their demands and will also tell President Bola Tinubu to remove Wike as FCT minister.

He said,“Why must we invite someone here and they are given us the date they will appear? What about the risk people took to be there? We should not be seen pleading for them to appear before us.

“My own decision is that they should be the ones to look for us. If we don’t stop this arrogance, it will not stop.

“Henceforth, we will not approve anything for both the minister and the area council chairmen, and as a matter of fact, we will tell the president to remove Wike as the FCT minister.

“I hereby move as a motion to bring this to the floor of the House for them to come and explain why they are not honouring our invitation.”

In the same vein, the chairman of the committee, Fredrick Agbedi, said the action of the Minister and the council chairmen was a breach of their constitutional responsibilities and a disservice to the people they serve.

He noted that the six area council chairmen had not flagged off, completed or inaugurated any project in the area councils, unlike Wike, despite the huge allocation.

He said,“The committee’s oversight function is essential to ensuring accountability and good governance, and this refusal to honour our invitation undermines these efforts.

“This is appalling considering the huge monthly allocation running into billions of Naira to each of the six area councils in the last one year and beyond.”

Also speaking, a committee member, Adesola Adebayo (APC-Lagos), said the function of overseeing the activities of the council areas resides within the House.

He stated that no chairman dares not to appear before the state House of Assembly because they can remove them.

He said,“They were fully invited but wrote a letter within an hour saying that they would not be coming.

“We should apply the maximum pressure on them; they should be accountable to the legislature. It is disrespectful and disregardful for the House of Representatives for them not to have shown up.”

However, a lawmaker on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nurudeen Abbas, suggested that Wike and the council chairmen should be given the last chance.

He said,“Let’s communicate with them again, and if they fail to appear again, then we should sanction them….READ FULL ARTICLE